American aerospace startup is testing hypersonic aircraft that can fly from NYC to London in 90 minutes
- Hermeus Halcyon is a hypersonic aircraft that an fly at Mach 5
- It would travel from New York to London in just 90 minutes
- The plane would only have room for 20 passengers
Published on Sep 16, 2024 at 3:41 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Sep 17, 2024 at 6:08 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
American aerospace startup Hermeus is working on a hypersonic jet that could fly from NYC to London in 90 minutes.
The goal is ambitious, but Hermeus is making good progress.
The startup has also finally chosen the main location to develop and test its hypersonic aircraft.
From now on, Hermeus will be using Cecil Airport in Jacksonville, Florida, a former Naval Air Station, as its main base of operations.
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More than hypersonic vaporware
The first thing we should point out is that the company’s flagship aircraft, the Halcyon, isn’t a design exercise like the Sky OV or the Magnetar, for example.
Hermeus has already built four prototypes and it’s trying to turn this concept into reality.
Hermeus is conducting tests, building components, and – as they explained on their YouTube channel – they’ve apparently also teamed up with the US Air Force.
Hermeus has a clear mission in mind
Hermeus has a very clear mission in mind.
According to them, it’s all about shortening travel times.
“Hypersonic travel has the potential to add more than $4 trillion of global GDP growth per year by radically accelerating the speed of commerce and cultural exchange”, the company explains in a statement published on its website.
That statement makes sense, from a logical perspective, but there are a couple of things worth pointing out.
The first we should point out is we’re probably several years (and billions) away from a hypersonic jet airlines can actually use.
The second problem is Hermeus says the Halcyon would fly at over 90,000 feet, for 4,600+ miles, at Mach 5, but with only 20 passengers on board.
Larger hypersonic aircraft will certainly be developed in the future, but for now, this is basically an extremely fast private jet.
